(Pavillion, WY) – Randy Tucker, local writer and longtime educator who recently published his new book Rails to Trails Along the Sweetwater, made a guest appearance Monday in Jessica Schooner’s third-grade classroom at Wind River Elementary School in Pavilion. Tucker came prepared with a photo presentation that introduced the students to the Oregon Trail, Native American history, and the technology during American colonization of the West.
Tucker kept the class engaged by asking questions and encouraging students to think critically about history. “What’s the furthest you’ve walked?” he asked the class, prompting 20 raised hands and answers ranging from 1-12 miles. He also asked what they thought pulled wagons best, horses, oxen, or mules. Most of the students knew the right answer was oxen.
A highlight of Tucker’s visit was when he showed the class a horn from an extinct mountain buffalo he found sticking up from the snow after getting lost on a hike in 1978 above Dubois. The buffalo horn, belonging to an animal that lived at least 150 years ago, drew audible ooo’s and ahhh’s as the children passed it around examining its texture and shape.
The presentation also covered Native American horsemanship around the stagecoach era, as well as the invention of the Pony Express. Tucker, who spent years teaching U.S. History to high school juniors and around a decade at the college level, said sharing history with younger students is especially rewarding. “History is a lifelong subject, and it’s good to start students when they’re young and inquisitive,” he said. “They’re so excited about things and full of questions.” He added that having a granddaughter in the third grade helped him know what to expect. “My oldest granddaughter is a third grader, so I kind of knew what was coming… almost cheating,” Tucker laughed.
Schooner said the visit made a strong impression on her students. She shared several reasons her class loves learning history, including that it’s fun to learn about the past and how it connects to the present, it’s fun to learn about a wide variety of history, and It teaches why we should be grateful and inspires us to keep learning about our ancestors. 
“Randy is so knowledgeable and he has so much to offer about history,” Schooner said. “His own history in teaching definitely plays a great role in his ability to speak to younger students.. He engages with the students, answers their questions, and teaches them more than they could have guessed.” Schooner added that after attending one of Tucker’s recent book signings she knew she wanted to bring him into her classroom. “I have known Randy for many years, and in all of our conversations, I am always amazed by his recount of history,” she said. “I knew I had to get him into my classroom so that my kids could enjoy it just as much.”
Tucker had one last trick up his sleeve as he handed out buffalo nickels to each student to take home to remember the history they learned in class that day. The third graders were comparing their coins excitedly as they lined up to head home on the buses.